


The Look Of Love

by magicsophicorn



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-08-12 06:36:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7924342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicsophicorn/pseuds/magicsophicorn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Snow knew what love looked like, and Regina was definitely in love. She just couldn't work out if she was in love with Emma or Ruby.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Look Of Love

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Red Swan Queen Week day 2 - Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Despite what some people seemed to think, Snow was actually quite observant.

She knew what love looked like on a person, and she had been watching her long enough to know that Regina was definitely in love. The shy smiles when she received a text message, the lack of bite in her usually scathing come backs, the fact that she was _humming_ to herself. They were all dead giveaways.

Yes Regina was definitely in love. The problem was that Snow couldn't work out _who_ she was in love with.

She had narrowed it down to two people, both of whom had come as a bit of a surprise to her.

She was fairly certain that it had to be either Emma or Ruby.

The way Regina behaved around them both was so different to anyone else. The soft touches, the easy smiles. She treated them with the same care and attention that had previously been reserved only for Henry.

It was beautiful, but very confusing.

This not knowing was driving Snow crazy, so she had decided that there was no other option, she would have to ask.

Snow put on her brightest smile as she slid into the booth opposite Regina.

"Good morning."

Regina didn't look up from her newspaper as she replied.

"Good morning Snow."

Regina didn't say anything else, and Snow drummed her fingers on the table as she tried to think of a discreet way to ask about Regina's love life. Subtlety had never been one of her strengths though, so she was drawing a blank.

"So who's the lucky, uh, person then?" She eventually blurted out, pleased with herself for not having specified a gender.

Regina looked up from her paper and frowned.

"I'm sorry?"

Snow rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on Regina, you don't need to pretend. I know you, I can tell when you're seeing someone, I just don't know who it is exactly…"

"I have no idea what you're talking about Snow," she replied, looking back down at her newspaper.

Snow huffed out an exasperated little sigh. This was not going according to plan. Perhaps she needed to be even more direct.

"You know, Emma is my daughter and Ruby is my best friend, so I just want them to be happy. If you were dating either of them you could tell me, I'd be happy for you."

Regina's back stiffened and Snow waited expectantly for her to finally put her out of her misery and tell her who she was seeing.

"I can assure you that I am not in a relationship with either Emma or Ruby," Regina said slowly, and Snow wanted to rip her hair out in frustration.

"I know you think I can't keep secrets," she snapped as she shuffled along the bench and stood, "but this doesn't need to be a secret. So if you won't tell me I'll have to ask someone else."

With that she turned on her heel and stomped out of the diner without looking back.

If Regina wouldn't tell her then she'd just have to ask Emma instead. Perhaps motherly guilt could get her to admit it if she was the one making Regina so happy.

\-----------------------------

She found Emma in the Sherriff's station with Ruby.

Snow stopped in her tracks in the doorway. The scene playing out in front of her was making her doubt her earlier hypothesis.

Emma was sitting at her desk eating a sandwich, and Ruby was sitting in front of her, _on_ her desk, her bare feet resting in Emma's lap. They were laughing together, and Ruby leaned forward and wiped a smudge of mayonnaise from the corner of Emma's mouth with her thumb, then licked it off.

In general Emma was not a very physically affection person, Henry being the one exception. She was starting to get more comfortable hugging her and David, but she certainly never behaved like this with anyone.

Perhaps she had been wrong, and it was Emma and Ruby who were an item. But then who could it be who Regina was seeing? She was still convinced that Regina was in love with _someone_ , but who could it be if not Emma or Ruby?

She was startled out of her thoughts by Ruby brushing past her as she left the station.

"Oh hey Snow! See you later Emma."

Snow turned and watched Ruby leave, frowning in confusion.

"Hey mom, what's up?" Emma called out around a mouthful of sandwich, and it took all her self-control not to comment on that. She wandered in, still lost in thought, and sat down opposite Emma.

"You okay Snow? You look confused."

She looked up at her daughter and just couldn't help herself.

"Are you dating Ruby? Because I had kind of thought there might be something going on between you and Regina, but then you and Ruby just now… I'm very confused."

Emma stared at her for a moment, blinking. She looked a little bit like a rabbit caught in headlights. Then she laughed awkwardly and stood up.

"Sorry mom I really have to go, there was an urgent call, uh, before I had my lunch… So yeah I really need to leave."

Before she could protest, Emma had grabbed her jacket and run from the room.

Snow sighed. So much for getting anything out of Emma. She should have guessed as much. Emma was making progress with letting her in, but they still had a long way to go.

With another sigh Snow stood and left the station. She wanted to ask Ruby about it all, but after the disastrous conversations with Regina and Emma she wasn't really sure there would be much point in that.

\-----------------------------

Two days later and Snow still couldn't stop thinking about it all.

She mulled things over as she pushed Neal along in his stroller, trying to get him to take a nap.

Yesterday she had seen the way Regina had smiled at Ruby as she got her morning coffee, and she had bumped into Emma, who could barely look at her, as she was taking a salad over to Regina's office for her lunch.

She was still no closer to figuring out who was dating who, or if they were all just really good friends and Snow was reading too much into things in a desire to see everyone happy and in love.

Snow rounded the corner of the docks and stopped suddenly.

Sitting together on a bench on the other side of the harbour were Emma, Regina and Ruby.

Regina was sitting in the middle, Ruby was leaning against her left side with her head resting on Regina's shoulder, and Regina's arm was around her waist. Emma was laying on the bench on the other side, her legs dangling off the end and her head in Regina's lap. Regina was running her fingers through her hair.

Snow felt like her heart was going to burst watching them there. They looked so happy together, so completely relaxed and at ease in each others company in a way they never were with anyone else. There was no doubt in her mind that the three of them were all very much in love with each other. She understood then why they had been so reluctant to talk to her about it.

Snow quickly turned the stroller around and headed back the way she had come before any of them spotted her.

Now that she knew, she could stop prying and wait for them to tell her themselves when they were ready. She still believed what she had told Regina, that this didn't need to be a secret, but it was a secret she could definitely keep.

For now, anyway.


End file.
